I saw cotton
and I saw black
Tall white mansions
and little shacks.
Southern man
when will you
pay them back?
I heard screamin’
and bullwhips cracking
How long? How long?

Southern man
better keep your head
Don’t forget
what your good book said
Southern change
gonna come at last
Now your crosses
are burning fast
Southern man

Lily Belle,
your hair is golden brown
I’ve seen your black man
comin’ round
Swear by God
I’m gonna cut him down!
I heard screamin’
and bullwhips cracking
How long? How long?

[Martin boss Chris Martin]

A Noted Player’s Story
“This is Hank William’s guitar [he points to the guitar]. I try to do the right thing with the guitar. You don’t want to stink with Hank’s guitar. I lent it to Bob Dylan for a while. He didn’t have a tour bus so I lent him mine and I left the guitar on the bed with a note saying Hank’s guitar is back there. He used it for a couple of months.” [Neil Young]

A LESS well-known player’s story
I’ve played a Gibson acoustic guitar and Taylors. They were lovely and looked great. For some styles and for simple strumming, they’d be just fine.
But a Martin guitar has a whole feel that other acoustic guitars just don’t provide. Martin D-28s look pretty plain, and I’ve seen people assume it’s just a common-or-garden instrument. It doesn’t feel too easy to play to Martin-ignorant folk, either.
To a believer, it grows into you and you grow into it, like a beat-up old couch, like your chair at work, your favourite coffee mug. Nobody else knows how to touch it, get the best out of it, cajole the soul from it. Even another Martin D-28 owner won’t feel quite at home with YOUR Martin D-28.
I regularly kiss mine and talk to it. Watch Neil Young with his, or John Martyn doing May You Never on an old Old Grey Whistle Test. It’s like an extension of their bodies. I don’t think you get that with other acoustic guitars.
God only knows what the D-45 sounds and feels like – they say it’s even better.
[Me]

Some Q&A
What type of polish does Martin recommend using on a satin finish guitar?
Martin does not recommend using guitar polish on a satin finish instrument, however, it will not harm the guitar. You may notice after time the finish will begin to shine unevenly. To clean the guitar, Martin suggests using a warm, damp cotton cloth to wipe it down and then a dry cotton cloth to finish drying it off. This will remove harmful chemicals.

Can I use lemon oil on the fingerboard of my Martin guitar?
Martin does not recommend using lemon oil on their fingerboards. The acids in lemon oil break down the finish of Martin guitars. It may also aid the corrosion of the frets and lessen the life of the strings.

An Anonymous Love Story
“I went back and took the guitar down from its location and sat down in that pick and glide chair to check it out more closely. It was love at first sight.The price tag was $1500 and I knew this guitar somehow had to become mine.
“My 50th birthday had been the previous week and my wife had a special party for me. Family and friends had come to help celebrate my birthday and some had given me money as a gift. I also had a part time job where I was paid on a monthly basis and with these two resources, I had the money to buy the guitar but didn’t want to make the purchase without first discussing it with my wife. The guitar was on consignment in the store and I hoped it wouldn’t be sold before I had a chance to talk it over and call to confirm my purchase.
“When we got home I told my wife about the Martin and she was excited that I had found the instrument and gave me the ok to go ahead and buy it. She and my son went the following Monday and purchased the guitar and it has been my pride and joy for the last twelve years. About a year after I bought the guitar it needed some fret work which was a simple job but when I took the guitar to have the frets dressed, the shop luthier replaced several frets alternately down the neck. When he did this he changed the voice and character of my guitar completely, it no longer sounder bright and discorded. My heart sank thinking my guitar was now ruined. I didn’t know what I was going to do.
“My son’s mandolin needed some work and we found a luthier Near Mars Hill, NC who could do this and when I made the appointment I told him about my guitar. He told me to bring it and he would have a look at it and see if there was any thing that might be done to correct the problems I was now experiencing with the instrument. When we arrived at his place of business he instantly knew the problem. It seems the repair person who had done the work on my Martin had installed the wrong fret wire and my guitar neck was totally out of balance. I ask it he could fix the problem and I was happy when he told me that he could. Dan Lashbrook is a Martin specialist and well known for his work and was once a flat picking champion guitar picker from the state of Alaska.
“I left my guitar and he installed the larger fret wire all down the neck, put fossilized ivory on the bridge and nut. He also added Waverly short post tuning machines. I could not believe the difference this made when I picked my guitar up two weeks later. It still sounds better than most guitars owned by folks with whom I jam and like all Martins continues to provide the voice and tones I love hearing. Martin guitars accrue in value and my original $1500 investment far exceeds that value now.”